‘Cutting the Cord’: Readers Respond

By Kelli B. Grant

On Wednesday, Pay Dirt responded to a report in The Wall Street Journal about the growing number of Americans who are ditching their paid TV subscriptions in favor of streaming and other less-expensive options — a practice known as “cutting the cord.” We offered a checklist of things to consider before making the switch, and asked our Twitter followers if they would cut their cable cord.

As it turns out, plenty of SmartMoney readers are ahead of the curve, telling us they ditched paid TV years ago. Most of those cord-cutters said they have no regrets, even if they’re annoyed about waiting for DVDs of favorite shows or missing live sports games. (Those readers who said “No way!” cited many of that same programming in their decision to keep the cable bills coming.)

Here’s a sample of the tweets, in which readers told us how they balanced their bills and TV habits:

I definitely weantd to post a small note so as to thank you for all the precious instructions you are writing here. My rather long internet investigation has finally been recognized with high-quality information to talk about with my close friends. I d assume that we readers are quite blessed to exist in a perfect place with very many wonderful professionals with very helpful tricks. I feel pretty privileged to have seen your entire web site and look forward to plenty of more fabulous times reading here. Thanks a lot once more for all the details.

7:27 pm August 9, 2012

Robert Laughing wrote:

All you cry babies saying ‘You would….but you CAN’T/won’t; because of SPORTS? YUK! We cut cable 7 years ago; read, listen to music, walk abouts, go to the occasional movie, and THRIVE, thanks to our local library and Netflix. How can ANYONE watch those many, Many, MANY annoying and insulting commercials??? We do NOT need this s—-, and just think, “NO POLITICAL ADVERTS” full of Josef Goebbel’s LIES. (Reich Minister of Propaganda = NOTHING changes!)

1:12 pm August 9, 2012

Flatbrains wrote:

People complain all the time about their antiquated cable monopoly companies, but when pressed to cut the cord and refuse to reward them for basically making you pay for watching commercial advertising, inflexible channel options, and bad customer service—oh no! They have to get their show fix, otherwise what else is there to live for if not fictional characters with which your average TV addict wishes they were, but will never be.

These are often the same people who vote a politician into office, and think they have a monopoly on complaining about them when it should technically be those who didn’t vote that retain complaining rights.

Anyway, to stay on topic: If you want to be the change you’d like to see in the world, vote with your dollars.

About Pay Dirt

Pay Dirt examines the millions of consumer decisions Americans make every day: What to buy, how much to pay, whether to rave or complain. Lead written by Quentin Fottrell, the blog examines these interactions, providing readers with news, insight and tips on shopping, spending, customer service, and companies that do right – and wrong – by their customers. Send items, questions and comments to quentin.fottrell@dowjones.com or tweet @SMPayDirt.